This paper analyzes the effects of a multilateral debt relief program on child health. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative in the late 1990s to reduce the debt burdens of poor countries, and explicitly linked the initiative to the aim of poverty reduction and social targets.
... See More + As a result, debt-servicing costs have gone down by an average 1.8 percentage points of gross domestic product in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. However, the social effects of debt relief are not well known. The paper employs micro data on infant mortality from 56 country-specific Demographic and Health Surveys to investigate the effects of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative on child health. The retrospective fertility structure of the data allows for analysis using the within-mother variation in the probability of survival of babies before and after different stages of the initiative. The results suggest that after a debt-ridden country enters the program, which is conditional on reform and pro-development policies, and receives interim debt relief, the probability of infant mortality goes down by about 0.5 percentage point. This translates into about 3,000 fewer infant deaths in an average Heavily Indebted Poor Country. The findings are particularly strong for infants born to poor mothers and mothers living in rural areas, and are driven by access to vaccines early in life and during pregnancy. There are no child health effects from graduating from the program and receiving full debt relief.
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The Budget Committee and the Committee on Development Effectiveness (the committees) met to consider the External Review of IEG’s FY17 work program and budget: findings and recommendations.
... See More + The committees welcomed the report by the independent external consultant and the findings and recommendations aimed at improving the quality of IEG’s work program and budget planning and performance management cycle. The committees commended IEG for its budget performance, for exceeding its expenditure review targets, and for progress in controlling cost overruns of individual products. Members were satisfied to learn that IEG’s budget management and formulation had been found broadly satisfactory.
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Controlling for bond and issuer characteristics, bond spreads are expected to be equal across different legal jurisdictions, and differences are expected to disappear through arbitrage.
... See More + However, an analysis of 435 U.S. dollar–denominated bonds issued by 53 emerging market sovereigns during 1990-2015 reveals that after the financial crisis of 2008, the launch spread of sovereign bonds issued under U.K. law has been higher than those issued under U.S. law, by 130 basis points for BB+ bonds and 175 basis points for B- bonds. This effect was not significant for investment grade bonds. On average, bonds issued under U.K. law had weaker ratings and shorter tenors post-crisis. The post-crisis impact of governing law on sovereign bond spreads is not explained by collective action clauses, or first-time bond issuances. Instead, the difference seems to be related to the perception that U.S. law offers stronger investor protection, and that the investor base for bonds issued under U.S. law is larger than that for bonds issued under U.K. law. The difference in spreads persists in the secondary market even after 180 days, perhaps because of the lack of liquidity, as investors tend to buy and hold these more attractive bonds on a longer term basis.
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Ratings for the ShiZheng Railway Project for China were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was low or negligible, the Bank performance was satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: unified control over railway program development, project design, financing and implementation is a recipe for overall project success even when the Bank’s financial contribution is relatively marginal: China Railway Corporation has single point responsibility for planning, financing and implementation of individual projects, for the creation of delivery mechanisms (such as the joint venture companies with provincial governments), and for administration of China’s national railway services. A large and linear infrastructure investment projects calls for a good preliminary design and strict control over compliance with standards and specifications and quality control but also a focus on the post-project maintenance to ensure sustainability, including through CMV. Understanding and addressing passenger needs in the context of affordability and tailored level of services will be critical to achieve the full impact of the high speed rail network. While initial results are encouraging, high speed rail remains a major investment that requires high traffic density to be justified economically and financially. This can be achieved by working on tariffs and services that answer specific needs for different users in a way that leverages the benefits in travel time provided by the rail. It also requires careful attention to the overall trip experience of travelers, who answer to different needs and do not have the same sensitivity vis a vis price and travel time.
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The Development Objective of the Additional Financing for Financing Energy Efficiency at MSMEs Project is to increase demand for energy efficiency investments in target micro, small and medium enterprise clusters and to build their capacity to access commercial finance.
... See More + It supports the global environmental agenda of stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) through an increase in Energy Efficiency investments and resulting energy savings. The proposed additional financing (AF) is consistent with the Government programs and is also aligned with the Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy (CPS, 2013-2017) with its focus on inclusive growth, jobs, private sector development, sustainability and reduced Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission intensity.The proposed AF would be processed with the following changes: (i) adjustment of the targets of the results indicators to reflect the proposed scale up and measuring outcomes that would help the Bank track progress towards GHG emission reduction and (ii) closing date extension to May 4, 2019 to ensure synergy, as the AF relates to replication and scaling up of existing project components.
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On October 7, 2016, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Board of Governors adopted resolution number six hundred fifty-two. The Board of Governors of the Bank consider the Financial Statements, Accountants’ Report and Administrative Budget, included in the 2016 Annual Report, as fulfilling the requirements of Article V, Section 13, of the Articles of Agreement and of Section 18 of the By-Laws of the Bank.
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The objective of the Financial Sector Rapid Response Project for Afghanistan is to assist Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) to develop action plans for improved banking supervision and to establish key building blocks of financial sector infrastructure, including payment system, movable collateral registry and public credit registry.
... See More + The proposed Second Additional Financing (AF) will help finance the costs associated with increasing the scope of the parent project and also sustaining some of its achieved results in several areas, including strengthening the capacity of the central bank and improving the financial infrastructure. In addition, the project paper seeks the approval of the extension of the closing date of the original and first additional financing from June 30, 2018 to October 31, 2019, and revision of the results framework to reflect the new proposed activities.
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The development objective of Third Local Governance Support Project for Bangladesh is to enhance the sustainability of the formula-based Union Parishad (UP) fiscal transfer system, and introduce a fiscal transfer system to selected Pourashavas.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (i) design to provide adequate drainage and to minimize changes in flows; (ii) roadside plantation of suitable plants especially with Vetivers which are known to be highly effective; (iii) should be avoid deforestation, if it would be occur ED then ensure Tree plantation; (iv) need to be ensured proper cleaning on regular basis by community initiative; (v) promote separate collection and disposal system for medical or hazardous wastes; (vi) where night soil latrines or septic tanks are built they should be sealed; (vii) management of construction period health and safety especially for school children; and (viii) removal and proper disposal of construction wastes.
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Moderate and gradual changes of the real exchange rate are beneficial for the economy to help it attain domestic and external equilibrium. They should not be feared.
... See More + However, large and sharp devaluations can lead to insolvency and even systemic crisis. They should be prevented by macroprudential policies and by avoiding unsustainable fixed exchange rate regimes. Central bank intervention to avoid a secular depreciation is useless: it only leads to massive losses of foreign reserves. This brief considers the main stylized facts on foreign exchange rates, with particular focus on developing countries; it examines the reasons and evidence for both potentially negative and positive effects of real exchange rate (RER) depreciation; and it discusses whether policies can be effective in reversing depreciation or mitigating its negative impact.
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Ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner are the driving missions for the World Bank Group. While the goals are simple to grasp, the efforts it will take to meet them are not.
... See More + Just as there are many interconnected and overlapping causes behind extreme poverty, the solutions required are just as complex and unique to each country’s individual circumstances. The fundamentals, however, remain true: countries must grow their economies inclusively, so that everyone benefits; they must invest in their people; and they must ensure that those who have left poverty do not fall back into it. Yet, the world today is much different than it was even just a few years ago. The global community is facing challenges that are diverse in nature - economic, humanitarian, environmental - but that share key features. First, they threaten the hard-won development gains of recent decades; and second, they will not be contained within any one country’s borders. Millions of people have been forcibly displaced by conflict and live in ever-more fragile areas; the risks of pandemics can devastate the health of individuals, but also undermine countries’ economies; and the threats of climate change are becoming ever more apparent. This Annual Report focuses on how two of the World Bank Group’s institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) are partnering with countries to end extreme poverty by 2030, promote shared prosperity, and support the global sustainable development agenda.
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The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) intends from time to time to issue its notes and bonds with maturities and on terms determined by market conditions at the time of sale.
... See More + The notes and bonds may be sold to dealers or underwriters, who may resell them, or they may be sold by IBRD directly or through agents. The specific currency, aggregate principal amount, maturity, interest rate or method for determining such rate, interest payment dates, if any, purchase price to be paid to IBRD, any terms for redemption or other special terms, form and denomination of such notes and bonds, information as to stock exchange listing and the names of the dealers, underwriters or agents in connection with the sale of such notes and bonds being offered at a particular time, as well as any other information that may be required, will be set forth in a prospectus or supplemental information statement. This document provides Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD and A) of the financial condition and results of operations for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016 (FY16).
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The difficulty of pursuing a conventional market-oriented development strategy in the Palestinian territories led in the early part of the 2000s to a second-best reliance on public sector employment and wage bill expansion to boost aggregate demand.
... See More + The main objective of this Programmatic Public Expenditure Review (PER) is to inform policy and institution-building efforts of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its donor partners about improving the sustainability of public expenditures and the efficacy and efficiency in the provision of essential public services.In particular, this PER aims to provide an assessment of public revenue and expenditure policies offering specific policy and institutional measures to reduce the size of the Palestinian territories fiscal deficit and make it more sustainable.The fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority is not sustainable.The difficult fiscal situation facing the Palestinian Authority today results from a unique confluence of challenges.As this report will argue, there is considerable further scope for reforms that would raise additional tax revenues, and reduce expenditures without compromising the quality of public services or negatively impacting public welfare.However, the PER notes that there are limits to what can be achieved by PA fiscal policy alone.The PER is organized as follows: Chapter one provides an overview of recent macroeconomic and fiscal developments; it also contains a brief assessment of priority fiscal policy issues facing the PA, and serves as an introduction to the in-depth analysis of the issues that follow in subsequent chapters. Chapter two analyzes the factors driving the size of the PA’s wage bill, and shows how these can be tackled. Chapter three reviews expenditures in the public health sector. Chapter four analyzes the Palestinian public pension system, and looks into how its sustainability can be assured. Chapter five assesses the quality of intergovernmental fiscal transfers, including net lending transfers. Chapter six reviews the way in which public investment projects are planned and implemented, and identifies steps to improve investment quality. Further details on health and pensions are provided in the annexes.
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This report contains the World Bank Group Boards' calendar for the period of September 2016 to November 2016, specifying the Boards' engagements, such as meetings and briefings.
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This paper studies the extent to which access to domestic and international bond markets and syndicated loan markets and switches across them impact corporate debt maturity.
... See More + Using world issuance activity during 1991-2014, the paper shows that different markets provide financing at different terms and that the importance of each market varies over time. Thus, the type of debt issued and its composition affect corporate maturity. During the global financial crisis of 2008-09, firms issued more bonds and, in developing countries, also more domestic loans. Because these markets are of longer maturity, the substitution across them allowed the largest firms that switched markets to maintain their average borrowing maturity, even when the maturity within each market declined for switchers and non-switchers. This evidence suggests that firms use different debt markets as complements and substitutes, and that compositional effects across firms and markets have a material impact on firm-specific and aggregate maturity.
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The development objective of Integrated Financial Management Information System Project for The Gambia is to increase the recipient's capacity in public resource management.
... See More + This Second Additional Financing (AF2) is an International Development Association (IDA) Credit to support two main areas: (a) the expansion of several existing project activities in the area of Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) rollout, support for human resources (HR) management, payroll efficiency, pension reform, debt management, and statistical capacity building; and (b) the addition of one new component to address urgent needs in the area of the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The AF2 has extended the project’s closing date for one year from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019, to allow for successful implementation of the scaled-up and newly introduced activities.
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